Card holder



March 19, 1957 B. B. McLEMORE 2,785,901

CARD HOLDER Filed Dec. 14, 1953 5. 5. M-Z awe/e5 INVENTOR ATTORNEYUnited States Patent (ZARD HOLDER Bruce B. McLemore, Abilene, Tex.Application December 14, 1953, Serial No. 398,149

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-150) This invention relates to holders for playingcards and more particularly a holder for individual players adapted toaccommodate as many cards to the hand as may be required in any game.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a playing cardholder which will relieve a player of the discomfort of holding in handa group of cards for long periods of time, especially where the gamerequires a hand made up of a considerable number of cards, such asbridge, canasta, or the like and further, in cases where the player ishandicapped and unable to hold the cards in hand, the invention providesa medium whereby such a player can enjoy the game without discomfort andyet conceal his hand from his partners.

Another object of the invention is to provide a playing card holderconsisting of an elongated rack, preferably molded or fabricated in asingle piece and formed with parallel card retaining grooves atprogressively higher levels from the base, thus to expose to the playerthe value of each card which may be overlapped by others in the grooves,the latter each having a perpendicular front wall and an upwardlydivergent rear wall to enable the cards to incline slightly to the rearat their upper ends for better visibility.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds when consideredwith the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a card holder showing one formof the invention.

Figure 2 is a view thereof in transverse section, and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention invertical section.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, reference isprimarily made to Figures 1 and 2 wherein the invention is shown asbeing made of wood, in the form of a substantially rectangular block 10,shaped to define a flat base portion 11 and a perpendicular back portion12.

The generally inclined face or frontal portion of the block or body isformed with a series of steps 13 of progressively increasing height fromthe base portion 11, originating with a coextensive and longitudinallyconcaved frontal portion 14 adapted to serve as a rack for pencils usedin score-keeping. Each step 13 is separated from another by a groove 15,each groove forming a receptacle for a group of playing cards 16, whichmay be placed in overlapping relationship in cases where a considerablenumber of cards make up a hand.

ice

It will be observed that each groove 15 has a front Wall 17 which isperpendicular to the base portion 11 of the card holder while theconfronting wall 18 is inclined slightly and follows the curve of thenext adjacent step 13, the curves serving to guide the cards into thegrooves 15 while the slight inclination of the rear walls 18 of thegrooves permit the cards to lie in an inclined plane for bettervisibility to the player.

In Figure 3 is shown a modified form of the invention. This form of theinvention difiiers from that just described only in the fact that it ismolded from a plastic material and hence takes on a different appearancealthough the function remains unchanged. The hollow body 19 of the cardholder has a rear Wall 20 and a generally inclined face which is moldedto define a series of progressively higher steps 21, originating with aforemost rack 22 having a longitudinal groove 23' for retainingscorekeeping pencils. Each step 21 has rounded corners serving to guidecards into grooves 23 formed between the steps. Each groove 23 has aperpendicular front wall 24 and a slightly inclined rear wall 25 so thatcards in the grooves may be slightly inclined for better visibility tothe player but will not be exposed to opponents in the game.

The body 19 is closed at each end and is shown in cross-section toreveal a transverse reinforcing rib 26, formed preferably at itsmidsection, extending under the inclined face from the rear to the frontwall of the body 19. The ends and the reinforcing rib depend below thefront and rear wall of the body and serve to support the latter.

From the foregoing, it is evident that a card holder is provided whichis practical for those finding it difiicult to hold cards in the handand has ornamental qualities. Moreover, the card holder may, byreversing its position with respect to an individual player, serve as aholder for the cards of the dummy in playing a bridge game.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of somemodification and such modification as may be construed to fall withinthe scope and meaning of the appended claim is also considered to bewithin the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A playing card holder comprising an elongate body having a base, aperpendicular back portion and an inclined frontal portion provided withsteps on progressively higher planes, curved along their longitudinalaxes and defining therebetween longitudinally coextensive spaces open atthe ends of said body, the bases of said spaces terminating onprogressively higher planes and having a vertical front wall and aslightly inclined rear wall merging with the curve of said steps toguide cards into said spaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS826,783 Healy July 24, 1906 1,076,850 Wedderburn Oct. 28, 1913 2,394,866McClune Feb. 12, 1946 2,544,900 Saqui Mar. 13, 1951 2,680,621 Crandallet a1. June 8, 1954

